


Family Ties That Bind

by marigoldtragedy



Series: To Make A Home [2]
Category: Shazam! (2019)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:48:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28304064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marigoldtragedy/pseuds/marigoldtragedy
Summary: "Rosa notices things. So of course she notices when things change. It confuses her, worries her, and makes her almost more curious than she was before, but it also makes her smile. It's a slow change at first, as it always is. Then a couple of weeks pass. She's in the kitchen on the phone with the man who's supposed to be coming over to fix up the oven, which decided to give out on them the previous night, and the kids come storming through the door. It's not unusual. There are too many of them coming through the door all at once to not be loud and unruly, but it's different. They are laughing and nudging each other and hanging in the entryway as they shed their coats and kick off their shoes. They're not in a hurry to head their separate ways."Sequel to If Love Alone Could Heal but could be read as a stand alone.
Series: To Make A Home [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2072997
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	Family Ties That Bind

**Author's Note:**

> A follow up to If Love Alone Could Heal.

Rosa notices things. So of course she notices when things change. It confuses her, worries her, and makes her almost more curious than she was before, but it also makes her smile. It's a slow change at first, as it always is. Then a couple of weeks pass. She's in the kitchen on the phone with the man who's supposed to be coming over to fix up the oven, which decided to give out on them the previous night, and the kids come storming through the door. It's not unusual. There are too many of them coming through the door all at once to not be loud and unruly, but it's different. They are laughing and nudging each other and hanging in the entryway as they shed their coats and kick off their shoes. They're not in a hurry to head their separate ways. 

Victor clearly notices too and his old expression of sadness as he watches them changes, mirroring her own confusion and pleasant surprise. He'll cross his arms as he leans in the living room doorway, watching as they all sprawl out, claiming their space by spreading their textbooks and working on their homework together. He'll throw a surprised look at Rosa, smiling and nodding in their direction and she'll smile and nod back. Most times they quietly back away, afraid that they'll interrupt and ruin the moment and the connection. Occasionally, they'll step in and be even more surprised when they're welcomed with jovial noise from all the kids, and they all sit in the living room and tease and talk and sit in silence. Victor easily adjusts, quickly losing his hesitation and joining in more frequently with a booming greeting. She still hangs back, unable to let go of her fear as easily as him, but she still smiles at the sight of them all in the living room watching a movie or in the front yard tossing a football as the weather gets warmer. Victor doesn't look as sad as often anymore.

Pedro isn't much less quiet as he is just different. He's open and more expressive. He'll occasionally poke fun at Eugene or give Billy a fist bump when they pass on the stairs. He lets Mary help him with homework and he and Darla work together in the kitchen coming up with weekly meal plans. She often hears hushed whispers from the boys' room at night, but the laughter is harder to keep quiet and she thinks that one must be him because it's so unfamiliar, unlike the others that she recognizes, that she hears more often. The voices from the boys' room don't stop when the girls tiptoe into the hallway and to their own rooms. But eventually, the whispering stops, and Rosa sneaks up the stairs to check on them each one by one, pushing their doors open and peeking inside. They're already asleep, the more familiar sound of their soft snores replacing the previous murmurs. She pauses, turning her ears for the more distinct sound of his usual muttering. But there's nothing and she smiles. She checks in every night and there are still the occasional whispers, but they're less frequent and she wonders if his dreams are more peaceful now.

Mary is more present. She stresses less. Her decision to take a gap year after graduation seems to be like a weight lifted off her shoulders. She spends less time browsing her computer and furiously typing out application essays or staring out the window in thought. She's smiling when she's outside with Darla tracing out a hopscotch square and tossing a piece of chalk at Billy when he comments on the box’s unequal sides. She sits on the couch with Eugene while he shouts at his computer screen and she actually watches what he's doing, her face twisted in a judgmental curiosity, but a genuine curiosity nevertheless. She invests in each of them and what they put their time into. She checks with them all when they're gathered in the living room doing homework, seeing if any of them need help between each of her own subjects. She dodges the sixth piece of paper that Freddy carelessly tosses over his shoulder, smacking his arm with her notebook and starting a tussle that results in them all having to sort through their scattered notebooks and papers and utensils to try and regain some sort of organization. Mary watches them all go back to their work with that same smile that Rosa does. Rosa doesn't have to wonder what goes on in her head anymore because she thinks she knows.

Eugene's strive for connection seems to dial up after those couple of weeks. He puts aside his computer far more often with more intent. When he is gaming, he adjusts his headphones so that only one ear is covered and the other is available to maintain the levels of his own voice or answer the call of the others. They join him a lot more than they used to. He cracks more jokes that she doesn't get but she isn't too bothered by it. Of course, her curiosity is often piqued by his strange comments, but the way it makes the others brighten up and smile and laugh and roll their eyes makes it all okay. She doesn't need to know what it is as long as she knows that it's something that brings them all joy and unity. He's the first to jump to their defense when Rosa or Victor scolds them for being out too late or for leaving unexpectedly. Because they seemed to be gone more often too. Rosa's comforted to know they’re all together, though she's usually unconvinced by Eugene's explanations as to their absence. She lets them get away with it though because they all seem to appreciate Eugene more than they had before.

Darla seems to hum that song less and less until she seems to have forgotten it. She hums the song from Eugene's game because she sometimes sits next to him while he plays and can hear the music from his now crooked headset. She hums some of Pedro's music. Rosa sometimes catches them on the couch, his earphones stretched between them, each working on their own thing but bobbing their head to the same rhythm. She hums that song that Billy plays on Mary's old guitar. Rosa will find her at the table, coloring away at the paper in front of her, swaying and humming along to the sound of his strumming coming from upstairs, barely audible above the music in the kitchen. Rosa wonders if she remembers the old tune she used to hum. She doesn't ask; just wonders.

Freddy spends less time alone, but, when he does, he seems less isolated. He's not any less quiet or any less still; just less off. When he sits on the back porch waiting for Darla, who had to run back upstairs to get her butterfly net, his eyes close and the corners of his lips curl up, the gentle wind catching in the curls of hair escaping the confines of his hat. He doesn't have to come out of a strange daze when company reappears. He seems less distracted and sorrowful; less like solitude is plaguing him. He keeps a youthful presence even in the moments where she passes the boys' bedroom and sees him at the desk, an odd vision of young maturity. He seems more content, and she wonders if it's for the same reasons that she is. She loves to see him and Billy stretched out on the couch watching movies but talking the whole time. She laughs at the way he lags behind the group just so he can nail Pedro in the back of the head with a snowball only for Pedro and Eugene to tackle him into a snowbank. She smiles at the way he teases with Mary and Darla but ultimately treats them with the utmost respect. Seeing him interact with them all makes her smile but seeing him alone does too.

Billy smiles back at her when he catches her watching him. When he's pouring himself and Darla glasses of almond milk and notices her paused in the doorway, he doesn't slide Darla's glass toward her and then take his own upstairs. He smiles and asks if Rosa wants to join them. When he's carrying a stack of movies down from the boys' room for him and Freddy to watch and passes her in the hall, he doesn't slip a DVD into the player then sink into the couch as far from Freddy as possible, silent and closed off. He smiles and tells her that they’re having a Fast and Furious marathon before setting up the first disc and settling down on the floor, back against the couch where Freddy is lounging, Freddy reaching over his shoulder to grab a handful of popcorn from the bowl in Billy's lap. He doesn't shut down conversations or steel himself against them anymore. He doesn't close himself up in his room as much as possible or silently watch them all with a hardened gaze. He starts initiating as much as Eugene. It's surprising and it's encouraging to see the content in his eyes and she smiles, glad that he’s home.

**Author's Note:**

> Again, Merry Christmas! Thanks for stopping by! Kudos and comments always welcome, appreciated, and celebrated by little solo dance parties!


End file.
